Verner's law

American  

noun

Linguistics.

1. the statement by K. Verner of a regularity behind some apparent exceptions in the Germanic languages to Grimm's law, namely, that Proto-Germanic voiceless fricatives became voiced when between voiced sounds if the immediately preceding vowel was not accented in Proto-Indo-European.

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Verner's law British  

/ ˈvɜːnəz, vɜːˈnɛərɪən /

noun

1. linguistics a modification of Grimm's Law accommodating some of its exceptions. It states that noninitial voiceless fricatives in Proto-Germanic occurring as a result of Grimm's law became voiced fricatives if the previous syllable had been unstressed in Proto-Indo-European

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Vernerian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Verner's law

First recorded in 1890–95